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Serbia, where a student opened fire on his classmates today, has a strong culture of gun ownership, especially in rural areas, but also strict gun control laws.

Reuters summarizes what the laws are for owning weapons in the country, BTA reports.

The Western Balkans have been awash with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons since the 1990s wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, where Serbs fought other ethnic groups that made up what was then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Serbian authorities at the time promoted nationalist politics and used the media to portray war criminals and underworld figures as heroes and defenders of Serbian territory, Reuters noted.

Scores of people were killed in mob-style shootings in the 1990s.

Tens of thousands of illegal firearms were surrendered or registered during the amnesty period.

However, Serbia still ranks third behind the US and Yemen with an average of 39 firearms per 100 people, along with Montenegro, which was also part of the former Yugoslavia, according to a 2018 Small Arms Survey.

Hunting is widespread in Serbia, with 78,000 people holding hunting permits out of a total population of 6.6 million.

Many people have had guns in their homes for generations.

Mass shootings are still relatively rare.

Persons over the age of 18 may only possess a firearm with a permit issued after a thorough police check.

Having a medical certificate is also mandatory and must be renewed every five years.

Legal firearm owners must not have a criminal record, mental disorder, use alcohol or illegal substances, firearms must be kept locked in a special gun cabinet.

The gun can be confiscated from the owner if it is decided that he is not treating it responsibly enough.

After the mass shooting in Belgrade: Did the 13-year-old student go to shooting ranges with his father?

Gun owners are required to complete a training course and answer a questionnaire on gun ownership law.

A permit to possess a firearm is not a permit to carry the weapon anywhere outside the home.

It is difficult to obtain a permit to carry a weapon.

In the deadliest shooting in Serbia since the 1990s, Ljubisa Bogdanovic killed 14 people in the village of Velika Ivanca, central Serbia, in 2013 before killing himself.

Nikola Radosavljevic killed nine people and wounded five in the village of Jabukovac, eastern Serbia, on July 27, 2007. He was committed to a mental institution.

Rade Sefer killed six guests at his son's wedding in the northern Serbian town of Senta in 2015 and was killed on the spot by another man with a chair.

A year later, Sinisa Zlatic killed five people with an assault rifle in a cafe in the town of Zitiste, northern Serbia, before being arrested and convicted.

All of these perpetrators were adults.

Serbia

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